Currently, water gliding atop some sort of floating board is practiced in different forms, some involving a motorized means of traction via a tow rope (using a single or paired water skis, and more recently oval-shaped knee-boards), others involving the moving action triggered by the wind or by the ocean waves (surfing). Over packed snow or ice one slides down either positioned over standard-shaped snow skis or sitting (or laying) on a roughly rectangular board or basket that may or may not have gliding runners underneath. Though theoretically some of the skis and sleds or gliding boards would be suitable for a sporting use on snow or on water, their particular width, or weight or buoyancy makes the water skis or boards impractical for the snow and viceversa. Additionally, the existing devices are intended for one exclusive position (i.e. snow skis for standing, knee-boards for kneeling only, etc.). Furthermore, ordinary water or snow skis can be used by only one user at a time and only the rectangular snow sleds of children, or larger competition sleds (such as Bob-sleds) can carry two individuals.
This invention circumvents some of those limitations by its whishbone shape that makes it a hydrid between a separate pair of skis and a sled. It offers the stability and easy anchor of the user provided by wide sleds and wide water gliding boards, it permits several positions such as standing, sitting, laying and even kneeling, and it allows, within an approximate length from front to back of 6', one or two riders. Furthermore, because of its split front half, it approximates the maneuverability of separate skis due to some elasticity or give of such front end, and when the rider lays down or sits in the back, he or she can keep the tow rope between the two front sections.
Revision of prior art reveals Lake's Snow and Water Skimming Device (U.S. Pat. No. 3,689,092) which offers a separate pair of skis for each lower leg so the skier rides in an extreme low kneeling position; the Water Sport Device of Drennen (U.S. Pat. No. 3,435,471) that consists of a curved rectangular board for the water skier or glider to kneel on; Forney's Knee Sled that only allows a high kneeling position of the user while resting his/her thighs on an inclined semi-sitting rest (U.S. Pat. No. 2,480,406); Morgan's Knee Engaging Ski (U.S. Pat. No. 4,353,573) that uses two separate ski boards with stops for the knees and for the feet; Pendleton's Body Sled (U.S. Pat. No. 4,413,832) has esentially a curved and padded rectangular shape and only accommodates one user and only in prone position; Prade et al. Footloops on Surfboards (U.S. Pat. No. 4,466,373) deal with water and wind surfing boards but only with the means of strapping or anchoring the user's feed to the board; Taylor's Multipurpose Slide (U.S. Pat. No. 4,028,761) describes esentially a water gliding knee board, primarily in use nowadays as such while pulled by a motorized boat, though its inventor claims that it is suitable for snow gliding and the reality proves that it is much too heavy for children to carry it back up the snow bank plus its limitations in maneuverability in the snow.
In essence, none of the mentioned devices patented to this date offers the versatility of use, of position and of number of occupants possible with this wishbone-shaped sled, hybrid between a pair of skis and a sled.